


Don't Leave Me Behind

by Ena2705



Series: Criminal Minds Oneshots [3]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Gen, Hurt Spencer, Team Fluff, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-11
Updated: 2019-12-11
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:40:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21761605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ena2705/pseuds/Ena2705
Summary: Some problems intellect can't fix, no matter how high the intellect.When Reid's knee starts playing him up again, the team are concerned. But will Reid turn to them in his time of need?
Relationships: Spencer Reid & The BAU Team
Series: Criminal Minds Oneshots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1828786
Comments: 5
Kudos: 262





	Don't Leave Me Behind

The rain had been pouring non-stop for the last three days, and it didn’t show any sign of stopping. A geographic profile hung on the wall, courtesy of Reid, and a tree’s worth of research and case files littered the table, alongside empty coffee cups. The investigation was four bodies deep, and the team were antsy to get the case over with. A phone rang somewhere in the busy precinct, and it wasn’t long before a rookie headed towards the BAU team. 

“A hiker has just reported finding a body. Looks to be the same MO.”

The team hurried out of the conference room and into their loaned SUVs, ready to catch a break and get the unsub rightfully behind bars. The journey to the forest was quiet, anticipation for the crime scene building up. As the team pulled down a side road to drive up the trail, they were met with a barricade of police cars. Hotch was the first to get out to investigate.

“The rain has caused mudslides, the trail is clear enough for us to walk but the tyres won’t find any traction. Hope you folks packed your wellies.”

The rest of the team got out of their respective vehicles and sighed. The trees didn’t offer much coverage, they hadn’t brought enough umbrellas, and Rossi was already complaining about his new suede shoes. What the locals had failed to mention, however, was that the trail to the body was 5 miles away, and all uphill. The groaning began afresh half way back downhill, when Morgan lost his footing and fell to his bottom. Emily had laughed at the mud covering his trousers, so he shook the rainwater from his umbrella on her head, and the two began bickering. Rossi was still complaining about his shoes, though slightly less now that he had seen the state of the body and JJ was shivering slightly and commenting repeatedly on how she was going to head straight to the coffee machine when they got back to the station. Hotch and Reid were the only ones theorising about the unsub, though for once, Hotch was doing the majority of the talking. He didn’t think much of it, speculating that it was probably because Reid was also cold.

When they got back to the conference room however, he couldn’t help but notice that Reid went straight to sit down at the table, whereas he would usually spend time looking at the board or pacing the room. He couldn’t blame him though, the 10 mile hike even had his calves aching slightly, and he ran daily. Hotch called it a night a few hours later, and they all headed back to the motel. Hotch was rooming with Morgan, Emily with JJ, and Rossi with Reid. They had ordered takeaway as a group to be taken to Emily and JJ’s room, but Reid slipped out a few minutes after they placed the order, coming back just after the food arrived. 

“You okay, Pretty Boy?”  
“Yeah, my knee just feels a bit stiff so I bought some heat and cool pads from the pharmacy.”

He was known to have done this a few times in the past, though it was mostly just after he had transferred from the crutches to the cane. The team didn’t question it though; if Reid was open about the pain, it was usually relatively minor, it was when he said he was fine that they began to worry.

It took two more days, but in the end, they had caught the unsub. He turned out to be the groundskeeper for a nearby national park that had suffered budget cuts at the expense of this forest as it had better hiking trails, meaning he had lost his job, and was over his head in debt. In his stress, his subconscious had blamed the hikers, and when he snapped, he went after those that had caused him to lose his job. They had cornered him in his cabin, but he made a run for it, though the chase was somewhat anticlimactic, as they had caught him a mere 5 minutes after running after him. For Reid though, this only aggravated the minor pain radiating from his knee worse, and as he sat on the couch when they got back on the jet, he was surprised to feel the joint swelling slightly. By the end of the flight though, the ache had reduced and he stopped worrying.

A few cases later, and the team found themselves on a 6 hour flight to Washington State. As the case wasn’t high profile, the team took the time to relax: Hotch was calling his son; Rossi was sat with Emily drinking a scotch; Reid was writing an article for a physics journal, Morgan was listening to music; and JJ was on video chat to Garcia, who was trying to teach her how to knit, to no effectiveness. The plane touched down on the runway, and the team stood to disembark. As Reid stood, he felt an immense stiffness to his knee, which almost knocked him off balance. He stretched the joint a few times, ignoring the pain, before deeming himself safe to walk. Nobody else had noticed what he was doing, they had all already headed towards the door.

By the time the case had ended, Reid’s pain was almost constant, and the cracking sound whenever he knelt, sat, or stood was a dead giveaway. He knew that something wasn’t right, and rang his doctor’s office, explaining the symptoms. Meanwhile, the rest of the team were conversing, and came to the conclusion that they needed to corner Reid about his pain. This case, Emily was sharing a room with Reid, and noticed that he was having difficulty getting out of bed in the mornings. Hotch sighed and stood, he knew as unit chief that it was his responsibility to ensure that his team were in good health. He found Reid just as he hung up the phone.

“Hotch!”  
“Reid, about your knee, the team have noticed…”  
“I know, I was actually about to come see you. I need Wednesday off to visit my doctor.”  
“Oh, yes, of course.”

Wednesday morning rolled around and Reid was sat in the hospital waiting room. In truth, he hadn’t been wholly honest with Hotch when he said he needed to visit his doctor. When he listed his symptoms to his doctor, he knew immediately what the problem was and ordered an MRI scan for Reid. As the minutes ticked by, his nerves grew. Reid had done his own research into his symptoms and knew that if the MRI scan came back positive, he may need another surgery in the near future, and he did not want that. His phone made a noise to announce a new message. Reid unlocked the device and saw it was a text from Morgan: “Will you be back in this afternoon? Hope all goes well :)”. He smiled a little, thankful for his supportive best friend. Reid typed up his reply and hit send just as he was called through: “Hopefully, depending on the results. And thank you!”

Reid arrived back at work and headed straight to Hotch’s office, knowing that it would be better to tell him sooner rather than later. Thankfully, everyone was on their lunch breaks, and he didn’t have to deal with an onslaught of questions before he told Hotch. He found Hotch eating a sandwich and checking his emails. He knocked on the open doorframe twice to get his boss’ attention and was waved in.

“How’d the appointment go?”

Reid grimaced at his earlier lie.

“I, uh… I had an MRI scan.”

Hotch’s eyes widened.

“What for?”  
“My doctor wanted to confirm osteoarthritis. Its where the cartilage in between the two…”  
“I know what it is, Reid, but aren’t you a little young for arthritis?”

Reid shrugged.

“When I was shot, some of the bone was completely shattered. They shaved it down so there were no sharp edges but it has eroded over time, and thus has the cartilage.”

Hotch felt his hand subconsciously go to one of his own scars. At the time, his own injury had seemed worse, but he had never heard the full breakdown of Reid’s.

“And did he? Confirm it, that is?”  
“Oh, uh, yes. But I’m still cleared for field duty. I’ve been given medication to help with the swelling and stiffness and exercises to help relieve the pain.”

Reid looked to the ground.

“What aren’t you telling me?”  
“There is a possibility that I may need surgery in the near future. An osteometry at least, or a total joint replacement at most”

Hotch wasn’t a fool, he knew that if Reid had the latter surgery, the chances of him becoming a field agent again were slim.

“What does the osteometry do?”  
“It changes the shape of the bone to alleviate pressure. For now though, I’ve been recommended to start wearing my brace again. I could get away with only using that for quite a while.”

Hotch nodded, consoled, and dismissed his agent. Once he was certain nobody was nearby, he dropped his head into his hands and sighed, it wasn’t fair that such horrible things happened to Reid, many agents could live a long career and never once see the inside of a hospital, but for his youngest agent that was simply not the case. He sat up and decided to research ways to help Reid, train himself on pain management techniques since he knew that Reid wouldn’t take painkillers, and that there was not a cure.

The rest of the team learned of his condition, and all secretly vouched to themselves to help out the agent in any way they could. JJ always carried heat and cool pads with her, in case of emergency; Emily would ask Reid to go for short walks whenever they spent too long sat down, knowing it would help him feel better but not wanting to embarrass him; Garcia would bake him cookies after a particularly painful day; Morgan helped make his apartment more accessible for the days when Reid needed support; and Rossi would pick Reid up for work in a morning so he could avoid taking the train. 

Some days Reid would pity himself. He was not even 40, yet had a condition that mostly affected the elderly. But when his friends would help him out, he didn’t feel so bad. He knew he was not alone. And when he said “I’m fine”, he meant it.


End file.
